Rep. LaHood receives backlash for voting to strip constituents of major local investments
ILLINOIS — Today, U.S. House Republicans passed the most anti-environment budget reconciliation bill in history, gutting federal environmental protections and consumer cost-saving measures that protect working families, create good-paying clean energy jobs, and safeguard our climate. The bill now heads to the U.S. Senate.
“The Illinois Environmental Council strongly opposes this bill, as it is a direct attack on the most significant climate legislation in our nation’s history,” said Jen Walling, Executive Director of the Illinois Environmental Council. “It strips funding for climate programs, guts clean energy manufacturing, kills good union jobs, drives energy prices up, and abandons farmers and small business owners, especially in central and downstate parts of the state and those disproportionately impacted by pollution and disinvestment. These communities are relying on the jobs, lower energy costs, and healthier future that the Inflation Reduction Act was already delivering, and are now left with uncertainty.”
The budget reconciliation bill, which narrowly advanced early Thursday morning in a 215-214 vote, includes sweeping rollbacks to the clean energy tax credits established under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and signals an extreme reversal of the federal government’s commitment to climate action and environmental justice. Among the most concerning provisions of the bill are drastic cuts and limitations to clean energy tax credits:
- Due to the repeal of these tax credits, residential energy bills in Illinois are projected to increase $168 annually, and commercial and industrial energy bills are predicted to increase 21%.
- Illinois is projected to lose over $16.8 billion worth of investments from public and private sources due to the repeal of the clean energy investments, putting 105 facilities at risk of closure across the state.
- Repealing the clean energy tax credits will increase air pollution in Illinois by 3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2030 and 6 million metric tons by 2035.
- Illinois stands to lose almost 30,000 jobs due to the repeal of the clean energy tax incentives and federal programs by 2030.
“We are thankful for the leadership of Illinois Representatives Danny Davis (D) IL-7 and Brad Schneider (D) IL-10 on the Ways and Means Committee for fighting to preserve clean energy investments in the budget bill,” said Jen Walling. “Meanwhile, Representative Darin LaHood (R) IL-16 voted along party lines at every opportunity. The people of District 16 stood to gain nearly 1,500 jobs and $3 billion in investments from the Inflation Reduction Act, and now they will lose out on those opportunities because Rep. LaHood prioritized tax cuts for the most wealthy Americans instead of his own constituents’ best interests.”
Illinois has made significant strides in clean energy, conservation, and climate resilience thanks in large part to the 2021 Climate and Equitable Jobs Act. This federal budget bill threatens to reverse that progress, prioritizing short-term profits over long-term prosperity.
“This budget advances an anti-science political agenda that enriches Trump’s wealthy supporters like big oil and gas CEOs. If the U.S. Senate brings this bill across the finish line, we’ll all lose so that just a wealthy few can win,” said Cate Caldwell, Senior Policy Manager of the Illinois Environmental Council. “That’s why it’s more important than ever that we invest in real, bold climate solutions right here in Illinois this spring to modernize our grid, ensure energy-hungry data centers act as good neighbors, and electrify our transportation sector. Hardworking Illinoisans across the state are counting on us; we can’t afford for state legislators to drag their feet while Trump’s agenda marches forward.”
In juxtaposition with the federal government’s rollbacks on key climate protections, state lawmakers in Illinois are considering legislation that accelerates the state’s clean energy progress, ensures price stability for consumers, and protects our climate. In light of the Trump administration’s attacks on clean energy nationwide, the Illinois Environmental Council urges the Illinois General Assembly to pass the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act this spring to ensure our state-level clean energy progress remains strong and, in fact, accelerates in the midst of these attacks.
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About IEC: Since 1975, the Illinois Environmental Council has worked to safeguard Illinois—its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends by building power for people and the environment. Representing over 130 environmental organizations in the state, IEC carries out its mission to advance equitable public policies that create healthy environments across Illinois through education, advocacy, and movement building.